Charlie: Loving School

Well, Charlie has been in Kindergarten for almost two months now and so far, so good. He really seems to love it!

I never have any trouble getting him out of bed in the mornings to go to school and he always has great things to say about his day.

He's had no trouble making friends either. His best friend is Jack or as Charlie calls him, J-A-C-K.

Most of all, I've been impressed with how well he's reading. It seems to have really progressed quickly! He loves to read about Hot Wheels and LEGOS and he also enjoys challenging himself and reading books that are a "Level 2." How cool!

Recently, the room moms and parent volunteers (including Ms. Raz!) gathered together to help the kids tie dye t-shirts. The kids wear these shirts on every field trip, which included their field trip to the Davidson Fire House last week. I am capturing all of our special Kindergarten events throughout the year, so I thought I would share these photos of Charlie with you.

Enjoy!

It was so cool having Ms. Raz at school. Charlie really got a kick out of it!

As you can see, Charlie had a great time making a mess... er, uh... tie dying his shirt.

The kids also got their hands painted so that we could make transfers to iron onto their shirts.
The transfers said, "Kindergarten has the most spirit, HANDS DOWN."
Get it?

Messy hands. What fun!

What a cutie!

This is Charlie and his classmate, Raquel, before the field trip.
Didn't their shirts turn out great?

Charlie's ready to see some fire trucks.

Listening to "Fireman Mitch."

Charlie loved seeing the inside of the fire truck.
What he didn't love? My camera.

Mrs. Noble's Kindergarten Class

Me and Charlie after the field trip.
Don't worry. I showed Charlie this picture so he could see what he looks like.
We call this his "I gotta take a poop" face.
He got a kick out of that.
(Hey, you gotta learn to speak boy when you're the mom of two of them.)

Summer Fun in Tennessee - Part II

The boys love staying on Grandma and Grandpa's farm. They love the hammock on the screened in porch. They love going to the barn and seeing the horses. The love watching the dogs run up to the back window to say hello. They love playing on the pool table. They love being able to play outside and ride their bikes without having to worry about cars or strangers. But, more than anything, they love riding on the tractor. They would ride it morning, noon and night if we let them.

And this trip to Tennessee was no different. The boys were stoked when it was finally time to take their turn on the tractor. Grandpa and Charlie went first. Charlie was so excited because Grandpa let him steer the tractor this time. How awesome! (Of course Charlie spent half of the time looking back at the wheels to see what they looked like in motion. Thank goodness there was plenty of field to cover!)

Chase and Dada were up next. Chase really got into it this year and seemed to enjoy the ride almost as much as Charlie. As for me, I just love getting pictures of the boys on the tractor. They're so happy, the scenery is so beautiful and it just makes for perfect pictures. Maybe someday I'll get to ride with one of the boys. Wouldn't that be fun?

The next day we headed to Safety City. It's literally a small city set-up in downtown Knoxville complete with traffic lights, stop signs, railroad crossings and little buildings set up to look like local restaurants, banks and businesses. So cool! If there had been a Safety City like this when I was young, I would have spent every waking moment there. Safety City is exactly what I was imagining in my mind when I was driving my dad's lawn mower around our front lawn for hours on end. But, I digress...

Here are a few pictures of tractor riding on the farm and our trip to Safety City. Coming up next... pontooning on Lake Loudon!

Chase... what a character!

Charlie gives me a wave from the tractor.

Don't they look like they're having fun?

Great picture of Dada and Chase.

Chase gives me a wave, too!

Taking the wheel!

Big smiles!

Love Safety City!

A mini-Tennessee Theater.

Having a great time!

Mini Alcoa.

Mini Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Mini Sun Sphere!

Working traffic lights?! Awesome!

Charlie makes his way around Safety City, in front of the mini Shoneys'.

Chase tries to keep up with little brother.

"Hmm... should we eat at the Applebees instead?"

Yes, boys. It's time for a picture. Just indulge me and get it over with.

Thanks! ;)

Summer Fun in Tennessee - Part I

Let's face it. We had so much fun this summer that I'm fairly confident I'll be blogging about it until November. It's taking forever to pour through all of the photos I took, but I'm so happy that I have this blog because it's making me keep (somewhat) up-to-date. So, let's take a little trip back to July so I can share a few photos from our trip to Tennessee.

We had the. best. time! It was awesome! Truly! We decided to kick off the week at Wilderness at the Smokies in Pigeon Forge. It's basically a massive indoor/outdoor water park flanked by an awesome hotel made just for the pure enjoyment of kids and families. We all had a blast. I love water parks! Always have! It's so much fun to splash, slide and swim with the boys. Plus, they're little dare devils and will ride anything they're tall enough to ride. I love it!

The next day, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We met their newest addition, Bakhita - such a cutie! - and we swam at Aunt Margie's house. Such fun and that was only day one! Next up... our trip to Safety City. SO AWESOME!

Here are a few photos of our trip to Tennessee. More to come!

This kid is a hoot! I would love to know what goes on in that little brain of his.

Getting ready for the massive amount of water that's about to dump on their heads.

Charlie looks thrilled! Chase is like, "What the...?!"

Whew! They made it!

This photo is hysterical. I asked for ONE picture in front of the
Wilderness at the Smokes sign. They are so mad at me for making them pose
for yet another picture, so they decided to show their displeasure on their faces.
Too bad boys! You should know that I will get my picture one way or another!

Ta-dah!
Ok, so it's not a great photo, but at least they attempted a smile.
I don't feel too bad. They LOVE looking at the photo books I make.

And they're happy again. Nothin' a little snow cone can't fix!

And now onto Grandma and Grandpa's farm...

This is Praise and little Bakhita!

I love this photo! So cool!

Chase and his Daddy.

The next day we headed to Aunt Margie's...

. Chase... mentally preparing for his 2 1/2 summersault with a twist.

Um... I think he needs to work on his form.

Charlie and Grandpa having a laugh. 

Me and my bubs.

 And now it's time to show off our mad diving board skills...

I love this kid. He's got style!

I'm not sure what to say about this. Interesting technique, Charlie.
You might try looking where you're going. Just sayin'.

Mike, showing off his best cannonball.

Ok. Step aside all. My turn! Here's my back dive in stop-time photography.

Look! I even pointed my toes! Mrs. Van Meter would be proud.
Who turned 40 this year?
This girl!

Thank you, Aunt Margie! We had a great day!